Jackson, railway discuss upkeep of property

More than 20,000 visitors flock to the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway in Jackson every year to take a ride on the historic train. But city officials are concerned the area makes for an unattractive entrance into Jackson at the intersection of Highways 61 and 25.

Mayor Paul Sander said that ongoing concerns about the railroad include excessive weeds and grass along the railroad tracks and old train cars that are unsightly and possibly hazardous to the public.

Jackson's city attorney Tom Ludwig and Iron Mountain Railway's attorney and co-owner Sam Drusch met last week to discuss the various issues the city has with the railroad station.

"We met on various issues relating to the upkeep and the attractiveness of the property," Ludwig said. "We discussed various issues such as abandoned rail cars and weeds. It was a very positive meeting and we feel that we will be able to solve a substantial portion of the matters that are out there."

Drusch agreed that there are items that have been allowed to collect on the property which are unsightly and should not be there.

But he also said while most of the city's issues can be fixed, railroad stations aren't going to be attractive spots.

"They are just not pretty places, there's nothing pretty about them," Drusch said. "Mr. Ludwig and I discussed that this area has never been a garden spot."

Another problem the Iron Mountain Railway faces is that its staff is strictly volunteer. There are no paid employees so finding volunteers to help with the clean-up can sometimes be a difficult task, Drusch said.

As for the abandoned rail cars, he said there are some cars that have been dropped off on the property and there is no way to locate the owners.

"At one time, some guy paid us to store his car on the property and now it just sits there," Drusch said. "What can you do? You can't just drive a rail car off like a regular car."

Drusch said the train station may be required to cut apart some of the abandon cars but that can get very expensive.

"We're going to work on it," he said.

Sander said he believes the residents of Jackson expect and deserve to have this area as clean and tidy as possible.

"I am very glad that the train owners are in agreement that these items need to be addressed and the city looks forward to continue working with them toward these improvements," he said.

The city has set no time limit on when the Iron Mountain Railway will need to address these issues but Drusch said progress is already being made.

A crew worked on Thursday afternoon removing old air-conditioning units that had collected on the property.

The St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway has been giving train rides in Jackson since 1986.

jfreeze@semissourian.com